


Repeating History

by Coolgirl526



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Major Original Character(s), Sorta an AU, Written Episodicly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 13:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coolgirl526/pseuds/Coolgirl526
Summary: History will repeat it's self. Something in life that we can't change. There will always be kings and queens to rule over kingdoms, wars will be fought, and when a supercomputer is left shut off and left forgotten in an abandoned factory, there'll be a group of preteens to turn it on and help the girl trapped inside of it to defeat an evil A.I program out to destroy the world.Written in an episodic format.(On Hiatus temporarily due to IRL things)





	1. Episode 1: Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After acting on an impulse, identical twins, Ashley and Bethany (Beth) Denis, explore the old abandoned factory on the edge of town. They had been expecting old, useless machines, conveyor belts that no longer work, and dust everywhere. What they didn't expect was to find a virtual world in a supercomputer hidden under the factory.

 

‘History repeats itself. That’s one of the things wrong with history,’

-Clarence Darrow

Sunset.

The time when all is peaceful. When the world starts to calm down. And it couldn’t be any more true for the outskirts of the small town of Boulogne-Billancourt. Laying there forgotten for years was the old abandoned factory. All was silent and still.

Until the laughter of two girls broke it.

Both girls were around the age of twelve with long red hair reaching the bottom of their backs. Both also had bright green eyes, freckles scattered across their faces and arms, and both wore simple grey colored short sleeved, hooded shirts, and jeans with white sneakers.

“Come on Ash! Hurry up!” One of the two identical girls laughed playfully as she ran across a bridge leading to the old factory.

“I’m coming Beth, wait up!” ‘Ash’ laughed following her twin. Beth smiled as her sister caught up with her.

“Can’t move any faster can you?” Beth teased, ruffling up her sister’s hair, “You move like a turtle sometimes Ashley!”

“If I’m a turtle then you’re one too!” Ashley teased back playfully pushing her sister. The two preteens laughed as the duo began to explore the old factory's ground floor.

“How have they not torn this place down yet?” Ashley said in wonder.

“Why do you think they would tear it down?” Beth asked climbing inside with an old service elevator to mess with it.

“Because it’s not being used?” Ashley said with a shrug. Beth smiled as her sister continued to look around. She nearly jumped at the sound of the elevator’s doors starting to close.

“Ash! The elevator's working!” Beth called as she tried to stop the doors from closing. She, however, had to quickly pull her hands back before the elevator could crush them. She sighed and sat on the ground as the elevator began to descend. When the elevator came to stop she had to brace herself from falling over. Her eyes widened as the doors opened to reveal a large computer.

“Whoa…”

* * *

“Ash! The elevator's working!”

“Beth?” Ashley asked, looking at where she had heard the redhead. All she saw was the old service elevator going down. “Beth?” Ashley called again, approaching the empty elevator shaft. She heard the echoing sound of the gears come to a stop. She looked down the shaft gripping the sides to prevent her from falling in. She looked at the cables and a smirk formed on her face.

“Well we only live once!” she grinned slowly backing up.

_Thunk._

Beth turned away from … some sort of weird computer, and focused on the elevator. She honestly wasn’t all that surprised to see her sister dropped down from the roof.

“Took you long enough,” Beth teased as Ashley joined her, “How’d you get down here anyway?”

“I flew down. Duh!” Ashley joked, playfully rolling her eyes, “How do you think I got down?”

“Well, you didn’t jump or else I’d have to clean up Ashley bits right now…” Beth mused, playfully tapping her finger against her mouth, “So you must’ve climbed down.”

Ashley giggled, “You got it!” she took a look around the room. “Soo, what is this place?”

“No idea. It looks like something straight out of a science fiction movie though…” Beth said, looking at the computer. Next to it was some sort of indent in the ground that almost took up most of the room. “And don’t bother trying to turn it on, I can’t seem to find a power source to get it to work.

Ashley crossed her arms thinking. She noticed, in the corner of her eyes, a set of rungs attached to the wall leading to another floor. Ashley walked over to it and started to climb down, “Maybe because the power source is down here!”

Beth approached the rungs. She looked down seeing her sister standing in the middle of three tube-like cylinders. “Well?” Beth called down, lazily lying on the ground.

“Nope! Just means we have to go deeper!” Ashley chirped. She paused for a moment looking around the strange room.

“Or you’re just clueless,” Beth teased starting to climb down to join her. Ashley huffed as her sister joined her.

“Brat” Ashley mumbled, playfully pouting as she crossed her arms.

“Well I know what you are but what am I?” Beth teased, pushing her sister playfully.

“A brat,” Ashley said teased back, returning the push.

The twins broke out giggling, as they stood in the strange room. Ashley walked over and called down the elevator as Beth lightly explored.

“So what do you think it does?” Ashley asked stepping in as Beth followed suit.

Beth shrugged as the elevator began to move. “I don’t know, maybe some sort of government thing.”

“What government abandons something like this? Let alone builds it in a car factory!” Ashley exclaimed, throwing her arms up for emphasis.

The elevator came to a stop. “Okay if it’s not a government project then who... made...it…” Beth stood in awe at what appeared to be the computer’s mainframe. “Wow…”

“I know…” Ashley said perplexed. “If a government didn’t make this then someone has _way_ too much free time on their hands…”

Beth snickered at her sister’s comment. Both girls approached the mainframe slowly.  Almost in a trance, both girls grabbed the lever that was protruding out.

“Together on three?” Beth whispered.

“On three…” Ashley whispered back.

“One… two…” Both girls counted down, both tightening their grips, “THREE!”

With a massive heave, the girls threw the lever up. Both sisters watched in amazement as the computer whirred to life. Ashley beamed, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

“Come on! Let’s go check upstairs to see if that did anything!” Ashley laughed grabbing her still dazed sister’s arm. Beth’s gaze didn’t break as she was pulled to the elevator. Beth stood in silence as her sister eagerly rushed to the computer, taking a seat. As Ashley began to mess around with it she noticed her sister not even moving from the elevator. “Beth come on over here!” Ashley laughed, motioning her sister to join her. “Beth?”

“We need to tell someone about this…” Beth said softly.

“Tell someone? What? Why?” Ashley laughed nervously, getting up from the chair.

“Ash! We have _zero_ idea _what_ this is for!” Beth said trying to reason with her sister.

“Well, it could _just_ be a computer…” Ashley shrugged, standing by the chair.

“ _Just a computer?_ ” Beth spat, the excitement of their discovery wearing off, “Ash! This isn’t  _just_  a normal computer! What godforsaken computer takes up a _whole freaking room?”_

“Well didn’t computers in the past take up whole rooms?” Ashley said sheepishly.

“Not anymore! Ash this could be a superweapon for crying out loud!” Beth exclaimed.

 _“Oh I can guarantee you this wasn’t made to be a super weapon,”_ A third unknown voice chimed in.

Needless to say, both girls let out the loudest screams in their lives.

* * *

“It talked! The computer talked!” Beth panicked as she and her sister plastered themselves against the far wall.

“DEMON POSSESSED COMPUTER! DEMON POSSESSED COMPUTER!” Ashley shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Oh my god it talked! Computers aren’t supposed to talk!” Beth carried on, pulling her sister closer to her.

 _“Have you two calmed down yet?”_ the third voiced asked, slightly irritated. Ashley opened her mouth to scream again, only to be stopped by Beth clamping her hand over her twin’s mouth.

“Please tell me you're not going to take over the world,” Beth begged, trying desperately to not show her fear.

 _“Don’t worry,”_ the unknown voice reassured. Both girls sighed in relief and relaxed, moving away from the wall, and heading back to the monitor.

“Okay if you're not going to take over the world, then what _are_ you for?” Ashley asked curiously as both girls squeezing into the seat. Now with both girls now are sitting in front of the computer they could now see a young elvish looking girl with bright pink hair in some sort of chat window.

The girl opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it. She cleared her throat, _“My name is Aelita, the guardian of Lyoko, the virtual world inside this supercomputer. And the only one that can counterattack Xana.”_

“Xana?” the twins asked at the same time and looking at each other in confusion.

 _“A rogue program that is out to destroy the world… And who_ was _trapped until you two reactivated the supercomputer,”_ Aelita scolded. Both girls looked down with guilt.

“W-well can’t we turn it back off?” Ashley stuttered.

 _“No, unfortunately… when the supercomputer was turned back on, he escaped back into the network. It’ll take forever to lure him out to trap him again…”_ Aelita sighed, _“And with me stuck in here, he’ll do whatever he can to destroy the supercomputer, along with me in it.”_

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Ashley offered with a small smile. Beth slowly looked at Ashley, a mixture of disbelief and anger very noticeable on her face. “Oh come on Beth!”

“ _No._ No no no! We are _not_ doing this!” Beth asserted, trying to ignore her sister’s begging.

“ _Buut Beeeth!_ ” Ashley whined, plopping her head on Beth’s shoulder, “Pleeease!”

“Fine!” Beth groaned, rolling her eyes, “We’ll help you recapture Xana.”

Aelita looked at them stunned, trying to look for the right words to say. _“But you’ll get yourselves killed!”_

“Please! We’ll be fine!” Ashley snickered, confidence oozing from her voice.

* * *

“Alright, so what do I do?” Ashley asked, feeling even more excited than when she first walked into the building.

_“Okay, do you have the command prompt up?”_

“Yep,” Ashley said, waiting for her next set of instructions.

 _“Alright, there should be a notebook by the keyboard. It should have the commands written in it from…”_ Aelita hesitated.

“From your creator?” Ashley guessed.

 _“Uh, yeah. From my… creator,”_ Aelita said sadly. She took a deep breath as if to steady herself. _“Alright, you should find the notebook by the monitor and it will have the commands to activate and run the scanning program, after that, we can have your sister-”_

“It’s not here,” Ashley retorted, cutting Aelita off.

 _“What?”_ Aelita said startled, _“What do you mean it’s not there? Did you check on the floor, just in case one of you two accidentally knocked it off?”_

Ashley quickly ducked under the supercomputer, looking on the ground for the mysterious notebook. “Still nothing!” Ashley reported back after a few seconds of searching.

Aelita looked on in confusion, trying to think of why the notebook was missing. _“That’s odd, he always kept it in the same place…”_ she whispered softly to herself.

“Wait, I think I… Yeah I think I found it!” Ashley called out snapping Aelita out of her thoughts. The preteen redhead popped back up holding a notebook with various sticky notes sticking out of it in one hand in the other a tanish messenger bag.

 _“Where did you find that?”_ Aelita asked in disbelief.

“The bag? It was stashed by the chair,” Ashley reported  “Speaking of which, how old _was_ your creator? This bag here looks like it belonged to someone around our age-”

 _“Okay! We’ve wasted enough time as it is. We need to hurry and get both you and… And...”_ Aelita trailed off trying to remember the other twin’s name.

“-And Beth?” Ashley finished.

 _“Yes. And Beth scanned. After that we’ll have Beth take your place and have you scanned,”_ Aelita continued, appearing to be working busily on her end. Ashley quickly flipped the book open. Following the instructions, she typed in the commands and repositioned the headset be a bit more comfortable.

Ashley cleared her throat and processed with the verbal commands, “Alright… Scan Bethany Denis.”

The sound of a soft hiss filled Beth’s ears as the ‘scanner’ had finished… well, scanning her. She nervously opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She allowed herself to relax as she stepped out and made her way back up to her sister to take her place.

“Well?” Ashley asked passing Beth the notebook.

“Gotta warn you, it kinda tickles,” Beth smiled taking the notebook from her sister. Ashley giggled and entered the elevator. Beth watched as the doors closed and the sound of gears became the only sound in the room. She took a deep breath and took a seat.

“Aelita?” Beth asked as she positioned the headset over her ears.

 _“Ashley? I thought I told you to take Beth’s place in the scanners,”_ Aelita said looking up from… whatever she was doing.

“I _am_ Beth…” She responded awkwardly. Both girls looked at each other, and even though she didn’t show it, Beth could tell that Aelita was quite embarrassed.

 _“This is something I’m going to need to get used to is it?”_ Aelita asked, the awkwardness in her voice.

“If we’re all going to be working together… then yeah, you will,” Beth responded with a chuckle.

Aelita gave a half-hearted chuckle back at her. _“Well, when you're both ready, go ahead and enter the commands.”_  

“Alright then,” Beth said scooting forward. She, like her sister, readjusted the headset and began to follow the instructions written out on the page she flipped to. “Okay, transfer Ashley Denis, Scanner Ashley Denis-”

 _“Beth, that shouldn’t be the right command,”_ Aelita spoke up. Unfortunately, Beth didn’t seem to hear her.

“-Virtualization?”

 _“Beth stop!”_ Aelita shouted in vain. Beth proceeded to hit the Enter key on the keyboard when Aelita’s words finally registered in Beth’s mind. The girl’s panic mode finally kicked in.

“OH MY GOD! AELITA WHAT DID I JUST DO?!” Beth shrieked as she began rapidly flipping through the notebook for answers.

 _“Beth I need you to calm down, Ashley was just-”_ Aelita tried to explain only to be cut off by Beth again.

“Th-There has to be something in here to get her back! Y-your creator wouldn’t have that written down without someway to reverse it!” Beth stammered, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

 _“Beth, I need you to calm down. Ashley is just fine. You accidentally sent her to Lyoko. I can track her down but I’m going to need to know the sector she’s in, understand?”_ Aelita said trying to reassure Beth. Beth gave a slight in response, tears lightly running down her cheeks. _“Alright, can you describe the sector she’s in currently?”_

“U-um… T-there’s what looks like trees, a-and the ground l-looks like it’s a bunch of paths,” Beth sniffled as she reported back what she saw on screen to Aelita.

“ _Alright, sounds like she’s in the forest sector. Now I’m going to need you to establish a connection link with Ashley and let her know I’m going to be meeting up with her. Got it?”_ Aelita commanded. Beth nodded. She began to quickly flip through the notebook, this time paying extra close attention to the slightly messy writing as to not make a bigger mess. Typing in the commands as carefully and as quickly as she could she took a deep breath when she saw a box flash up quickly with the words ‘connection established’.

“A-Ash?” Beth asked nervously into the microphone.

* * *

_Thud._

“ _Ow…_ ”

 “What happened?” Ashley grunted as she pulled herself into a sitting position, and took a quick look around her, confused.

“This must be Lyoko,” She mused to herself, taking in as much of her new surroundings as she could.

The area she had been dropped into was… odd, to say the least. The ‘sky’ (if you could call it that.) was a greenish-yellow color, the ground was in various intertwining paths, infinite looking ‘trees’ dotting any empty space between the ‘paths’, and overall, it gave her a serious video game vibe.

“Beth? You there?” Ashley called out, trying to make contact with her twin. She gave a small _humph_ as she picked herself off the ground.

“Whoa!” She yelped, flinging her arms out trying to regain her balance. She looked down at her feet to see her sneakers (And all of her clothes for the matter) had been replaced. Where her white sneakers had been, was now a pair of black roller skates with neon green laces, neon green-and-pink stripes running alongside the sides and outer part of the wheel. Her hoodie shirt and jeans were replaced too with a black tank top and shorts, both having neon green hems. Lastly, on the right side of her face was three cartoonish-looking greenish stars starting from her eyebrow and going to her jaw.

“Sweet skates,” She thought aloud, looking at her new outfit.

“ _A-Ash?_ ”

Ashley turned around in surprise at hearing her sister’s disembodied voice, “Beth? Beth is that you? Where are you?”

“ _A-are you okay?_ ” Beth asked, her voice audibly cracking.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, but Beth?” Ashley asked concerned, looking at the sky, “Have you been crying?”

* * *

Beth let out a sigh and quickly wiped away any tears that had formed in her panic and steadied herself. “Y-yeah I’m fine. At least, I am now hearing you're alright,” Beth chuckled softly wiping the last of her tears away. “What is Lyoko like?” Beth asked, mood changing entirely.

“ _It’s pretty cool! It’s like being in a video game,_ ” Ashley chirped happily, “ _Not only that but it also gave me a pretty sweet outfit. Did you do this?_ ”

“I can see from here,” Beth giggled at her sister’s excitement, “But I didn’t do that.”

 _“Well, I guess it’s another mystery to solve some other time”_ Ashley mockingly sighed.

Instantly Beth remembered what Aelita told her what to do after she made the connection with Ashley. “Hey Ash, Aelita told me to tell you that she’s coming to meet up with you, so it may be a good idea to stay where you are.”

 _“Alright then! We can just talk in the meantime!”_ Ashley said cheerfully.

“Talk? Talk about what-” Beth was suddenly cut off by what sounded like some sort of beeping alarm. A window quickly popped up showing… something? In the window was sort of long cylindrical ‘towers’ lined up side by side and in the middle was one glowing a bright red.

 _“Hey Beth, what’s that noise?”_ Ashley asked growing curious over the beeping sound she was hearing from her end.

* * *

Back in Lyoko, Ashley waited for a response, however, she was met with a group of mechanical looking, bug-like creatures. On each of their back was a strange eye-like symbol. “Well hello there! What are you guys?” Ashley asked slowly approaching the new creatures. She slid her hand on her knees to get a better look at them. “Man you guys sure are ugly…” Ashley said out loud.

 _“Who’s ugly?”_ Beth asked finally getting the noise to stop, just managing to overhear the end of Ashley’s conversation. “And what are those things in front of you?”

“Just these weird bug-things that showed up out of nowhere, they look pretty harmless to me- OW!”

“Ashley? Ashley what happened?!” Beth asked in a panic after hearing her sister in distress. Suddenly two cards appeared laying across from one another with ‘Vs’ in the middle. The card on the left had her sister in it in her new outfit holding what looks like daggers in her hands, the other had what look like a mix of a robot, a bug, and a potato. Underneath was the word ‘Kankralats’. As she studied the screen, she failed to notice that underneath her was a bunch of cables that had come to life and slithering around the underside of the chair.

“They’re shooting me!” Ashley shouted as she fled the creatures. Thankfully her love and the time she put into roller skating she quickly outran them. However, in her panic she ran in a random direction, getting herself lost.

Slowly, she pulled to a stop. “Hey, Beth? Can you tell where I am?” She asked looking towards the sky.

“ _Um… I uh… Don’t know honestly…_ ” Beth replied nervously.

* * *

Beth skimmed through the notebook in hopes of it having any piece of information that could possibly help in this situation. As Beth turned back to the monitor, She noticed on a parallel plateau to the one her sister was on was three red dots. “Hey, Ash? What are those things near you?” She asked adjusting the mic on the headset.

“ _What do you mean?_ ” Ashley asked, “ _I’m not seeing anything on my end._ ”

Beth pressed her lips together in confusion, as she continued to continued to watch the screen. She continued to watch the red dots as the made their way towards Ashley’s position. “Well, if you can’t see them now, you’ll be seeing them in a little bit,” Beth said, continuing to watch the dot’s movements, “Just be careful okay? We don’t know what these things are, or what they can do.”

“ _Got it!_ ” Ashley chirped.

Beth went back to monitoring the screen. She jumped in her seat as she felt something wrap tightly around her ankles. With a sharp yelp, she was quickly, and violently pulled from her seat.

* * *

“Beth?” Ashley called out to the sky with worry, “Beth is everything alright? Are you okay?”

She waited desperately for her sister to respond, Something approached her from behind. Something _big_. She whipped around to see three large, crab-like monsters towering over her. Before she could react, the crab-monster in front fired a laser, hitting her in the shoulder causing her to stumble back, “Ow!”

Another laser flew from the trio of monsters hitting the ground near her feet.

“Hey! Quit it!”

Another flew by missing her head.

“Stop it!” she shrieked, backing away in fear.

Another laser was fired at her.

And another.

And another.

And another.

As more and more lasers flew by her as she skated as fast as she could away from the new foes. “Beth what’s going on?!” She yelled, desperately trying avoiding the lasers.

Silence.

“Beth this isn’t funny! Why aren’t answering me?!” Ashley shouted, panic rising in her chest. Her eyes widened as she felt the ground slip out from under her. She gave a sharp grunt as she collided with the ground. As she picked herself into a sitting position, she immediately noticed a dull and fading, ‘tingling’ sensation in her right foot. “Ugh…”

_Clank, clank, clank._

She gasped sharply as the monsters towered over her. She gazed up at them in fear. “Beth help!” She screamed as the one in front charged up what looked to her be a laser. She closed her eyes, bracing for impact.

“ENERGY FIELD!”

A loud explosion rang out, startling her into a sitting position. In front of the dissipating corpse of the lead crab-monster, was a girl around her age, wearing a bodysuit with a clear skirt. Ashley almost didn’t recognize her if it hadn’t been for the pink hair. “Aelita?”

Aelita turned to face Ashley, “Ashley! Are you okay?” She rushed over to Ashley in a panic. She picked her up and quickly checked her over, “Are you okay? Did anything happened during the virtualization?”

“I’m fine but… shouldn’t we worry about those guys?” Ashley asked pointing at the two remaining monsters.

Aelita turned back to the two remaining monsters. “Ashley, stay behind me, got it?”

Ashley nodded in response, pulling herself back to her feet.

“Energy field!” Aelita shouted as she summoned a pink ball of energy to one of the monsters, hitting one of its front legs.

Ashley watched as Aelita continued fighting. As the battle escalated with Aelita taking on both of the monsters, All Ashley could do was watch helplessly as Aelita desperately tried to dodge the monsters’ lasers. She quickly padded herself down hoping to feel something that can be used as a weapon. Not feeling anything she looked back to see Aelita pinned down by one of the monsters. Ashley felt something form in her hand, and without thinking, she chucked it at the mechanical beast. She felt a wave of satisfaction wave over her as the beast burst into bits of code. Aelita turned back to face Ashley with a combination of shock, surprise, and relief. Ashley rushed over to Aelita and helped her to her feet. “I have zero idea what I just did, but whatever it was, it was _awesome_.”

Aelita stood up, picking up a small, thin throwing knife, “I think this is yours.”

Ashley took the knife from Aelita and lightly twirled it, smiling. She opened her mouth to say something, only to have a laser be fired in between the two girls. Both turned to see the other monster readying another laser. Ashley tightened her grip on her knife and turned back to Aelita with a sly smile, “You want this one? Or shall I take care of it?”

“I’ll let you take care of it, after all, you look like you could use the practice,” Aelita teased, taking a step back.

Ashley turned back to the monsters, lightly twirling her new weapon between her fingers. “Lawn dart skills don’t fail me now!” She shouted, tightening her grip on the knife. She drew back her arm and chucked the knife. She watched with satisfaction as the knife embedded itself in what appeared to be the monster’s eye.

With the monster writhing in pain, Aelita took the chance to run, grabbing Ashley’s arm.

“That was nuts! What was that thing?!” Ashley said excitedly as the two girls came to a stop.

“That was a Krab, only one of Xana’s monsters-” Aelita explained.

“So we have enemies to fight here?! Ah yeah!” Ashley interrupted, making boxing motions.

“No! It’s bad to see them!” Aelita said panicked.

“It’s bad?” Ashley said pulling to a stop.

“If we’re seeing monsters, then that means Xana’s attacking!” Aelita exclaimed.

“Attacking?” Ashley asked, rolling up to Aelita. “What do mean by attacking?”

“Xana can attack our world using towers located all over Lyoko,” Aelita explained, “I can deactivate them, but without knowing where the tower is located, it could take forever to find it. And I don’t think Beth could hold out for long-”

“Wait, Beth’s in danger?” Ashley interrupted again.

“I believe so. She hasn’t said anything for a while, which makes me worried,” Aelita turned to see Ashley skating off. “Ashley? Where are you going?”

“To search on the ground! If Beth is in danger then we need to start our search as fast as we can!” Ashley shouted, “See if you can see it from the air!”

Aelita watched stunned. She shook her head, and with a wave of her hand over a star bracelet, she took off. “Please be safe Beth…”

* * *

 _Thunk._  

Beth let out a moan as she tried to pick herself up. She looked up seeing the set of living cables starting to curl around the base of the supercomputer.

“No, no, no!” she yelled, rushing over. She reached out and grabbed one of the cables. “Come on! Come on!” She grunted as she pulled on the cables. “Loosen up, please!”

She let a sharp yelp as electricity entered her body. She was forced to let go, gripping her hands in pain. She looked at the cables helplessly as it continued to curl around the monitor like a boa constrictor. She looked around trying to find something to use as a lever.

A few feet away from her she spotted a long, thin, piece of metal. She snatched it and studied it for a monument. “Metal conducts electricity,” She thought aloud, “I’ll need something to wrap around it to keep myself from getting electrocuted.” She looked at the messenger bag. Quickly she reached over to it and grabbed it with her foot. She pulled it over and quickly dug into it. She pulled out a small role of black, rubbery tape. Quickly she wrapped it around one end to make a makeshift handle.

“Hey Xana!” She yelled to the wire bunch, “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” She run at the bunch, cramming the metal piece into the cable set. She watched as the cables loosened. However, they had not loosened for the reason she thought, as the end slithered above her.

“Uh oh…”

* * *

Aelita soared through the sky scanning the ground below her hoping to spot the activated tower. “Where is it?” She muttered.

“Seeing anything?” Ashley yelled from the ground.

“No! Nothing yet!” Aelita responded, “What about you?”

Ashley looked around her as she skated along the ground. It was nothing but trees that surrounded her. “No, still nothing!” She called back, “Any word from Beth?”

Aelita swooped down landing in front of Ashley. “No, she’s been silent. I’m getting really worried Ashley. What if Xana already got to her?” Aelita asked.

“He couldn’t have! Beth is able to hold her own in a fight! She’s going to just fine!” Ashley snapped, pushing ahead.

Aelita sighed, taking to the skies again. They hadn’t seen any of Xana’s monsters for a while. It was beginning to worry her that they may have gone the wrong way. And out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a red glow. She stopped mid-flight and turned to look in the direction where she saw the glow. Indeed, there was the activated tower. “Ashley! I see it! Follow me!” Aelita shouted, flying off. Ashley followed her from the ground.

Soon the two had neared the tower, crouching down to keep out of sight of a trio of Krabs standing guard. “All right, there it is,” Aelita whispered, pointing to the tower.

“How are we going to get past those guards? They’ll shoot at us without hesitation!” Ashley reposned.

“We’ll need some sort desecration…” Aelita said, “Something to lure them away long enough for me to slip into the tower. But I don’t know what…”

Ashley looked at the Krabs intently. “Could I do it?” She asked.

“What? Ashley are you positive? I could easily outmaneuver them from the air-” Aelita tried to explained.

“Yeah, but in that time Xana could bring in more monsters to protect the tower. If I do it, I can lure them far enough away, then you can get into the tower! Please, I’ll be more useful this way,” Ashley pleaded.

Aelita looked at her with concern. “Alright,” She sighed, “I’ll move out of their sight. Meanwhile, you lead them as far away as you can, alright?”

Ashley gave an affirmative nod. Aelita flew up into the air, moving into position. Ashley turned to look at the Krabs. Taking a deep breath, she skated closer to them to catch their attention. “HEY! HEY YOU!” She shouted.

All three Krabs turned to look at her.

“YEAH! YOU! YOU OVERGROWN SEA CREATURES! DO YOU THINK I’M SCARED OF YOU AND YOUR MASTER?! GUESS WHAT? I’M NOT! SO COME GET ME!” She taunted.

Immediately the three Krabs tore off after her at a startling speed.

“Uh oh,” Ashley said as the Krabs neared her quickly. She turned around to try and run away, only to be hit in the head by one of the Krabs. She fell to her knees. She tried to stand up again, only to feel pain ripple through her. Suddenly her body bursted in code, leaving only a wire frame that, that too, soon faded away into oblivion. And standing over where her body had once been, as a Krab. It backed away, and it and it’s companions turned to resume their positions back at the tower.

Meanwhile Aelita had quickly swooped in and entered the tower the second the Krabs had moved to a safe distance. Pushing through the black mass, Aelita walked to the center of the bottom platform, each ring lighting up as she stepped on it. Quickly she was pulled up to the second floor of the tower where a holographic screen appeared before her. She reached out and placed her hand on it.

**Aelita**

Instinctually she entered the code.

* * *

Meanwhile back on earth, the scanner opened with a hiss, as a Ashley tumbled out, clutching her abdomen. “Oh geez, that hurt…”

A loud shriek came from the upper floor. “Beth?!” Ashley said in a panic. She raced towards the ladder and entered the second floor, seeing Beth writhing in pain as a large cable twisted around her ankle, electrocuting her. “Beth!” Ashley shrieked. She looked around for something to disconnect the wires with. In the corner of her eye she noticed what looked like to be a pocket knife. She quickly grabbed it and flipped open the blade. Reaching into her back pocket she pulled out a pair of gloves and quickly slipped them on. She raced towards the cable and grabbed it tightly. Quickly she began to hack at the wires in an attempt to sever the wires. Her attempts were successful as the cable that was tried around Beth’s ankles went limp.

“Thanks. Thought I was done for,” Beth meekly chuckled, as she picked herself up and kicked the wire away.

“No problem. You’ve done the same for me,” Ashley said with a sly smile. Suddenly a shadow crossed over the twins. Ashley and Beth turned around to see that another set of cables had sprung to life and was looming over the duo ominously.

Beth took a step back, Ashley, on the other hand, tightened her grip on the knife, “So you want a round two huh?” Ashley taunted.

* * *

 **Code:** **Lyoko.**

“Tower deactivated,” Aelita sighed to herself. She watched the ever familiar scene of the panels that clung to the walls dove into the darkness.

* * *

 

Suddenly the cable dropped limped like a puppet who just had its strings cut. Both twins looked at it not knowing what to say or do.

“Is- is it- are they?” Beth stuttered.

Ashley moved forward and nudged it with her foot. “I think so? It sure isn’t moving.”

“Come on! We need to check on Aelita and the monitor!” Beth said rushing to the computer.

Ashley followed suit, joining her sister in looking over the monitor. Seeing no damage the girls instantly turned it on to find Aelita already waiting for them.

 _“Well?”_ Aelita asked nervously. Both twins looked at each other, then back at Aelita.

“I almost _died_ just now...” Beth started crossing her arms.

“...And he’s probably going continue trying to kill us if we continue helping you huh?” Ashley finished following her sister’s body language.

Aelita let out a sigh, _“I completely understand… You're not that willing to risk your lives for this. Backing out would be the safe decision for the both of you. So if you want I’ll delete your profiles untying you from the computer and you can go on your merry way. No more threats from Xana, I only ask you to keep it a secret. I can’t have anyone turning it off while Xana is still loose…”_

“ _Excuse me?!_ This has got to be _the COOLEST_ thing that’s happened to us! Not to mention you're still in there! Xana is a major threat to not only the world but us too, and I am not just going to sit around and let you have all the fun! I’m now helping with this. Beth you with me?” Ashley asked turning to her sister, already knowing her sister’s answer.

“You’ll end up getting yourselves killed if I don’t go along. So technically I don’t have a choice but to help out,” Beth responded with a chuckle.

Aelita was severely taken aback by this. How could they be so willing to put their lives on the line for her? For someone they just met? It almost reminded her of… No. They were gone… He was gone... It was just her that was left to fight Xana.

“And if he thinks he can take down the Denis twins so easily, than he’s got another thing coming to him!” Ashley boasted, puffing her chest out. Aelita smiled softly. Well her, Beth and Ashley…

“Yeah and he won’t be the only one! We have ten minutes until curfew! Jim’s going to kill us if he finds out we snuck off campus!” Beth shouted in a panic. Both sisters quickly said their goodbyes to their new friend and rushed to the elevator, Ashley grabbing the messenger bag and taking it with them. Aelita watched on as the redheads left the room and into the elevator. She signed out of the computer and remained in the tower. Quickly, she pulled up a screen. Sorting through the data she pulled up a picture of her and four others smiling.

“I’m sorry… I let Xana escape again. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. I promise to recapture him again. To free William.” Aelita took a deep breath to steady herself.

“And to get vengeance on for what Xana’s did to all of you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SWEET HALLALULA! IT'S DONE! IT'S FINALLY DONE! OVER 3-4 MONTHS OF EDITING IT'S DONE! This is not only is this my first story on this site (I'm also on FF.net) But this is my first Code Lyoko story too! Honestly, I've been a fan of this series for over a year now and also wanted to write a story off of it, and here it is! I am so excited to finally have the first draft done and feeling presentable enough to post. My main worry is that people won't like it. But hey, if Twilight can have a legion of fans, then I think I might get lucky and get a few. Please do not be afraid to post a comment as they help me grow as a writer, and help motivate me to continue this! (Even if you don't I'm still going to post chapters as I have up to 26+ chapters/episodes planned, so I'm going to see this through to the end.)


	2. Episode 2: Quake n' Shake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins have now officially joined the fight against Xana, Ashley has made it her mission to free Aelita from the supercomputer, dragging a reluctant Beth along with her. But, before the twins can even begin to start anything, they learn just how dangerous Xana can get with his attacks.

 

 

“And go!” Beth shouted, starting a stopwatch. 

 

Within an instant, Ashley launched herself into a sprint down the swears under France. As she ran, she began to strap on a bright pink helmet and set of skates. As she was trying to put on her other skate she slipped and tripped into the water.

 

“Ash!” Beth shouted as she rushed to the side looking for her sister. As she was peering over the edge, a sudden splash caught her off guard and she found herself being pulled in.

 

“Ashley!” she shouted when she resurfaced, “What is wrong with you!”

 

“Oh come on! It was a perfect moment!” Ashley laughed, resurfacing as her sister started to climb out. Ashley’s laughter died down as her sister sent her a chilling glare. “Uh… so… how did I do?”

 

“Well next to the fact that you not only tripped,  _ and _ you also decided to pull me in after you, I’m giving it a five out of ten,” Beth said, trying to act annoyed at her sister.

 

“A five? Come on it was worth a four tops!” Ashley joked, climbing out of the murky water.

 

“A four?” Beth asked smirking, eyebrow raised.

 

“Okay a three,” Ashley chuckled, playfully shoving her sister. Both girls shared a laugh and began to gather their things.

 

“You know, maybe we should learn to use a skateboard instead of rollerskates,” Beth said as she helped put away the water soaked skates.

 

“What why?” Ashley asked shocked.

 

“Well, one-” Beth pointed to Ashley in her water soaked clothes, “-and two, we wouldn’t even need to buy them, I found a few of them hidden by the ladder leading to the factory.”

 

“Okay, okay I see your point,  _ but _ wouldn’t taking them be considered stealing? I mean, they’re not ours…” Ashley pointed out, fidgeting with her hands.

 

“Point taken,” Beth said pointing at her sister as both girls stood up. They began the trek back to Kadic Academy to change into some fresh clothes. They snuck into the dorms and slipped into their shared dorm room.

 

“You know we could also just run,” Beth offered, pulling a clean shirt on.

 

“I don’t know…” Ashley responded, sitting on her bed. Beth turned to her sister.

 

“Hey is something wrong?” Beth asked joining Ashley on her bed.

 

Ashley sighed. “I’m worried about Aelita,” she confessed, “I mean, with her being trapped in Lyoko and with Xana running amok he’ll do whatever he can to do to not only kill us but also destroy the supercomputer! You saw what he tried to do the other day! If I hadn’t gotten devirtualized in time, he would have fried you  _ and _ destroy the supercomputer, leaving no way to access Lyoko and Aelita leaving us powerless to stop him from doing who knows what!”

 

“Well… what do you think we should do?” Beth asked crossing her arms. Ashley looked at her sister. Suddenly she lit up as an idea popped into her mind.

 

“What if we brought Aelita here!”

* * *

“Oh come on! It’s a brilliant plan!” Ashley said flabbergasted. The twins had moved their conversation from their room to outside to keep them from getting caught being in the dorms when they weren't supposed to. To them, outside was the lesser of two evils.

 

“No! Even if it was possible what would we do if we  _ were _ to bring her here?” Beth pointed out, “She’d have no birth certificate, nowhere to go, no family to turn to, she wouldn’t  _ exist _ . What would we do then?” Ashley stared at her sister quietly. 

 

She took a deep breath, “I see your point, but if she  _ stays _ in Lyoko she’ll be in an even greater risk of being  _ killed _ . Beth please, we  _ need  _ to do something,” Ashley begged, looking her sister in the eyes. Both girls kept eye contact for a few moments.

 

Finally, Beth looked away with a sigh, “Alright, we’ll bring Aelita here. But after that,  _ you _ have to figure everything else out. Got it?” Ashley squealed and bear hugged her twin.

 

“Oh thank you, thank you! Come on we better head to the library to pick up some books on programming! Oh and just  _ wait _ until we tell Aelita!” Ashley squealed, jumping up from her seat. She pulled Beth up and the two girls quickly and quietly snuck off campus.

* * *

In Lyoko, Aelita walked through the Ice sector, lost in memory. She looks up at the dark blue sky. She let out a deep sigh.

 

"I'm so sorry... I should've been there... I should've stopped him... But I didn't. I just... I just stood there...watching," She said to no one, "Watching as he- as he..." She stopped herself, nearly choking on her words. She collapsed to her knees, crying. "It's not fair! It's not fair..." she sobbed, "Your all gone because of me! Because I did nothing! Because I- I failed... I failed to stop him." She hugged herself tightly. "It should've been me."

 

"Your father wouldn't be happy hearing that..." an eerily familiar voice chuckled.

 

Aelita jolted upright. She turned around to see Xana. Or at least his poor puppet. Hatred flowed through her veins as she stood up. "Xana... What are you doing here?" She hissed.

 

Xana let out a garbled chuckle. "Hello, Aelita..."

 

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to destroy the supercomputer?" Aelita said, summoning an energy field with a quick flick of her wrist.

 

"Temper, temper," He taunted, walking slowly around her in a wide circle, "I just came to see how your new bodyguards are doing after yesterday. It appears however that they aren't here. Quiet the shame..."

 

Aelita had to hold herself back from attacking him.

 

"I always did like your old ones... They put up quite the challenge. Constantly surprising me in new ways. Always so sure that they would always stop me," Xana said, lightly shaking his head as he walked, "It was quite satisfying when I watched their downfall when they-" He was cut off as a pink ball of energy flew past him. He turned to look at Aelita.

 

"Why. Are. You. Here..." She growled, summoning another energy field. "It isn't like you to gloat. So why are are you taunting me! And I want the truth!"

 

"Take a guess. I want to be rid of you once and for all. However, I want you to suffer first. And what better way then to take away those closest to you. First your father, then your friends, next it was your little boy-toy-" An another energy field cut him off.

 

"SHUT UP!" Aelita screamed. "DON'T YOU  _ EVER _ CALL JEREMIE THAT AGAIN!"

 

He smirked. "It's quite rude to interrupt someone when they're talking." He let out a chuckle. "Now, I have some new targets. Your newest little bodyguards. It's sad you know... They think they can protect you. That they can stop me. That as long you three stick together, you'll all be fine..." We disappeared in a literal puff of smoke. Aelita looked behind her where Xana reappeared, aiming his sword right under her chin. "I could devirtualize you right now. I could watch as any trust developed is instantly shattered. Watch as you helplessly try to explain yourself." He lowered it. "But I rather wait to do that when they have truly grown to trust you and your words. Then I will show them the truth about their 'friend'."

 

"We're not friends..." Aelita muttered. "We only met just a day ago..."

 

"And you only knew your old ones for a few hours before you trusted them with our life."

 

"Things were different back then! I- I didn't have a choice! It was either that or risk being killed!" Aelita said, lightly panicking.

 

"And yet you trust complete strangers on helping you... History repeats itself in the most interesting ways..." Xana said. "I just hope they can handle a much larger attack so soon..." 

 

Aelita froze. In the corner of her eye, she noticed one of many sets of cables arcing out of the ground, pulsating a bright, red light. Her heart stopped. She turned to look back at Xana, only for him to have vanished. She looked at the wires again worried. Quickly she waved her hand over her star bracelet. She flew off towards the nearest way tower to contact the twins.

* * *

Beth dumped a small stack of books in front of her sister. Using the eraser end of a pencil, Ashley lightly poked the stack.

 

“Well?” Ashley whispered looking up at her sister.

 

“This is all they have on programming for beginners” Beth sighed, taking a seat next to her sister. Ashley frowned counting each book.

 

“Only four? You’d think there’d be a lot more here…” Ashley mumbled, taking the book from the top of the stack. It wasn’t even that thick of a book, maybe around the average size of a novel. Sighing she flipped it open and began to read.

 

The sound of the books rattling on the bookshelves caught all of the library goers attention. No one had time to process what was going on as suddenly the ground began to shake.

 

Both Beth and Ashley struggled to stay upright as much as possible as the whole building began to shake violently.

 

“What was that?!” Ashley asked as the twins and other library goers all picked themselves off of the ground. A sharp beeping came from the messenger bag that Ashley brought with them. Both girls crawled under the table they had been sitting at and fished out a laptop. Opening it they saw the superscan revealing an activated tower. Next to it was a window containing the newscast. Ashley quickly turned the volume up so both girls could hear it.

 

_ “Breaking news. France has just experienced a level 3 earthquake on the Richter scale. Scientist are as we speak, working on the causes. Right now though, officials are asking everyone to get to safety and stay indoors-” _

 

Another earthquake erupted, stronger than the last one, knocking everyone to the ground. Dust from the ceiling began to rain down. They watched as the news reporter picked herself off of the ground and put her finger to her ear as if listening to someone on the other end.

 

_ “I just received word that we have now just experienced a level 4 earthquake. It is now advised to get out of smaller buildings as it is predicted that the sizes of the quakes will only increase-” _

 

No one needed to hear another thing, as everyone in the building dashed to the exits. Both girls however dashed to the nearest fire exit and dashed into streets. They only got as far as the sidewalk, as another earthquake, this time it was three times as strong as the last one, threw the girls to the ground. Behind them, they could hear the creaking of buildings. Beth pulled her sister closer to her as they both stood up.

 

“We need to get to the factory and fast,” Beth said softly. Ashley nodded in agreement, tossing a pair of skates to Beth. Both girls strapped on helmets and quickly set out for the factory.

* * *

**Back in Lyoko.**

 

Aelita ran through the Ice sector desperately trying to locate a tower to contact the twins. She had to get them out of Xana’s range before he could kill them. Or worse.

 

“Not again,” she swore to herself, running faster.

 

“Never again…”

* * *

Ashley and Beth speed through the streets as they begin to break apart. As the twins skated on down, they watched as people scrambled away from buildings as they began to crumble to the ground. Ashley had barely been paying attention to the front of her until she smacked into the back of her sister.

 

“Beth, why’d you stop- Oh…” Before the twins was a gigantic crack in the road. And directly in their path. “So… how do get across that?” Ashley asked nervously.

 

“We could try and jump it...” Beth said, looking down into the crack, “But it might be-”

 

“Say no more!” Ashley interrupted, moving backward. 

 

Beth quickly realized what her sister was planning to do. “ASHLEY NO!”

 

It was too late, as Ashley flew past her in an attempt to jump the crevasse. Beth could only watch in horror as her sister’s feet left the edge and Ashley soared through the air. Everything felt as if it were in slow motion as Ashley neared the other side.

 

Time slowed even further as her fingertips just grazed the edge and she plummeted down.

 

“ASHLEY!” Beth screamed as she watched her sister fall. Her heart stopped as she heard a sickening crunch, followed by her sister’s blood curtailing scream. Without missing a beat she looked for a way to get across. She found a thin ledge by a still-standing building. She slipped off her skates and stuffed them in her backpack, and slowly made her way to her sister. As she was carefully crawled to the other side. She could make out her sister lying on an outcropping, clutching her right leg in pain. Adrenaline spiked through her and she quickened her pace. The second she got to stable ground she sprinted to her sister’s aid.

 

“Ash! Ash!” She shouted overlooking the edge. Ashley looked up at her, tears trickling down her face. Beth quickly slipped off her backpack and the messenger bag she grabbed when they left the library. “Ash, can you stand?” Beth called down.

 

“N-no, I think I broke my ankle,” Ashley whimpered. Beth scanned for something to use to help pull her sister up. Finding nothing, Beth reached down using her right hand to support herself.

 

“Ash! I need you to grab my hand! I’ll pull you up okay?” Beth shouted as another quake rippled through. Ashley not waiting for another second, reached up and grabbed her sister’s hand. Beth heaved as she pulled Ashley up onto the sturdy ground.

 

“Come on we need to hurry and get to the factory… or whatever is left of it,” Beth urged, letting her sister use her as a crutch. And the two girls trekked off to the factory.

 

Much to both girls’ joy and relief the factory still stood. Due to Ashley’s condition, Beth took the stairs instead of the hanging cables, helping her sister down each step.

 

“Looks like we’re not taking the elevator,” Beth muttered, peering down the empty shaft.

 

“What now?” Ashley asked fearfully. Beth helped her sister sit down and pulled out the laptop.

 

“We ask Aelita,” Beth stated as the laptop powered on. Both girls watched as Aelita appeared on the screen, instantly relieved to see them.

 

_ “Thank goodness you're both okay!” _ Aelita said letting out a sigh of relief.

 

“If your definition of ‘okay’ is Ashley having a broken ankle and the elevator being down, then yeah, we’re just peachy-keen!” Beth snapped, the sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

 

Aelita was taken aback.  _ “What? It’s down? Okay, there should be another route through the Boiler room. But Ashley…” _ Ashley looked at her friend upon hearing her name,  _ “Due to your injury I’m afraid you can’t go to Lyoko. We don’t don’t know the full effects of your injury will have when you're in your Lyoko form, so our safest bet is to have you stay behind and man the computer while Beth heads in your place.” _ The twins looked at each other in worry.

 

“A-all right then, we’ll get going,” Ashley whimpered trying to swallow her pain. Closing the laptop and Beth helping her up, both girls rushed through the factory to find the other route.

* * *

“Are you sure you can climb down on your own?” Beth asked as she watched her sister struggle to climb on her own from the top of an opening that lead to the supercomputer. Ashley gave a firm nod and continued to climb down as Beth lowered herself to the ground. Beth watched as Ashley crawled down the rungs. Beth helped her sister into the chair and get her settled in and flipping the notebook to the page with the virtualization code. “Be careful sis,” She said giving her sister one last hug before climbing down to the scanner room.

 

Ashley watched in silence as her sister descended down below. Turning back to the computer she pulled up the command prompt and a window with security camera footage pointed at the scanner room. She began to type in the written commands as her sister stepped into the scanner. She cleared her throat, reading to input the voice commands.

* * *

“Transfer: Beth-”

* * *

In the scanner room Beth flinched as the scanner closed around her.

* * *

“-Scanner: Beth-”

* * *

Beth stood as still as possible as a ring of white light began to encircle her body. A rush of what felt like wind blew her hair up.

* * *

“-Virtualization,” Ashley finished, pressing the enter key on the keyboard.

* * *

With a bright flash of light, Beth was forced to close her eyes to avoid being blinded. Suddenly she felt the ground disappear under her feet. She let out a startled yelp as she fell to the ground, landing on her butt. She picked herself up and noticed her clothing had changed. Her new outfit looked almost exactly like Ashley’s form, but there were differences. Like her sister she now wore a black tank top and shorts with colored hems. However, where her sister’s had been a bright green, Beth’s where a bright pink. And similar enough, running from her eyebrow to her cheek where three pale pink cartoon-ish looking flowers shrinking in size on the left side of her face. And just like her sister, she wore a pair of roller skates with an identical color scheme to her Ashley’s.

 

_ “Beth?” _ Ashley’s voice called out.

 

“Ash?” Beth asked looking for the source of her sister’s voice.

 

_ “So you got here fine?” _ Ashley asked with a sigh of relief.

 

“Yeah. How are you on your end?” Beth asked, taking in her new icy surroundings.

* * *

Ashley gripped the edge of the monitor to keep herself upright as the whole factory shook violently. “Not so good here,” Ashley reported back, “The earthquakes are getting stronger, but I think I should be fine. The whole room looks like it’s made of metal, so I don’t think it can collapse on me.”

* * *

Beth felt relieved after hearing her sister was alright. She looked overhead seeing Aelita flying above her. “Aelita! Down here!” Beth shouted waving her arms to flag down the elf-girl down. Thankfully Aelita noticed her as she swooped down, her wings vanishing into thin air when she landed.

 

“Let me guess, your Beth?” Aelita playfully asked.

 

“See? You're telling us apart already. Even our own  _ parents _ still can’t guess who is who!” Beth teased, playfully punching Aelita in the arm.

 

Aelita cleared her throat, putting on a serious face, “Come on we need to get to that tower. Ashley, can you see the activated tower from your end?”

Ashley stared at the screen as another tremor shook the building, “It looks like it’s around 20 meters northwest of where you guys are right now-” Ashley let out a yelp as another tremor almost tossed her out of her chair. “Can you guys please try to hurry, things are starting to get getting bad out here!” Ashley begged, her hands shaking and eyes wide open.

“How bad?” Aelita asked.

 

_ “Large cracks in the road, buildings collapsing, and there have been evacuations taking place…” _ Ashley said, her voice tight and strained as if she were forcing herself to speak. Both girls nodded in unison and sprinting into action. Aelita summoned her wings and flew overhead, with Beth skated on the ground and Ashley watching in the real world. For the three girls, everything had been running smoothly for several minutes.

 

And that began to send off alarms in Aelita’s head.

 

“Aelita is everything okay?” Beth asked as Aelita landed.

 

“No… Xana should’ve sent his monsters to attack us by now. But there’s been nothing” Aelita said looking at Beth. “Ashley, can you see if anything on your end?”

 

_ “No. Do you think Xana’s trying to pull something?” _ Ashley asked.

 

Aelita pressed her lips together, her eyes scanning the ground, trying to think of what Xana could be planning. She shook her head and took a deep breath, “Come on. We need to deactivate the tower before Xana can do any more damage.” Beth nodded in response and the two girls took off. As they ran, a familiar figure stood on a nearby cliffside watching them. 

 

Xana watched the two girls run off. He turned to several wasp-like bugs hovering near him. “Kill her,” He commanded pointing the broadsword he was holding at Beth. They creatures made a nodding motion and flew off.

 

Back with the girls, Beth and Aelita had made it halfway to the tower. Beth was happy for such an easy first mission, but Aelita was growing more and more suspicious by the second. “Ashley, do you see anything on your end?”

 

_ “Still nothing,” _ Ashley reported trying to hide the nervousness in her voice, “ _ Um how long till you guys get to the tower? _ ”

 

“We can see it now so it shouldn’t be too much longer. Now Ashley, with the damage Xana’s cause we’ll need you to launch a program called ‘Return to the Past’. Like most programs on the supercomputer, it needs both a written and verbal code. The setup should be in the notebook. However, I should be able to guide you after I deactivate the tower. Got it?”

 

_ “Uh, yeah… I think…” _ Ashley said.

 

“Good. Now me and Beth are nearing the tower. Alert us if anything-”

 

“Hey what's that?” Beth asked, stopping. She pointed at a something flying near them. 

 

Aelita squinted to try and get a better view. She froze. “Hornets!” She shouted, “Ashley I thought you said you didn’t see anything

* * *

“I  _ didn’t _ and I still don’t!” Ashley pleaded, “Trust me I’m only seeing you guys on the screen! Something must be wrong with- Wait… I  _ do _ see something! It looks like-” She leaned in closer to the screen for a better look. However she didn’t get the chance to report back as another tremor knocked her off balance, and with a squeal tossed her into the monitor's screen, with a loud  _ crack. _ She fell back into the chair, groaning as her eyes slowly fluttered closed.

* * *

“Ashley?” Aelita stopped in midair in fear, “ASHLEY?!”

 

Beth looked up at Aelita in fear. “A-Aelita? What happen? Is Ashley okay!” Aelita flew to the ground, panic and fear painted her face. “Aelita?!”

 

“We need to get to the tower and fast.”

 

Beth felt her blood run cold. "W-what do we do about them?" She asked. Pointing at the monsters.

 

Aelita looked at the hornets flying closer. "We either try to outrun them or fight."

 

Beth looked at the Hornets. She felt something materialize in her hand. She looked at her hand seeing a bowie knife with a black hilt in her hand. "We have no other option than to fight, do we?" She asked, the monsters closing in.

 

"No, we don't..." Aelita said, charging up an energy field.

 

Beth swiveled out of the path of a laser. She made a sharp turn, drawing out her knife. Without aiming, she chucked it in the attacking Hornet’s direction. It soared through the air, making a deep cut along its side. The cut gave a bright white glow and the hornet exploded mid-air into bits of code. 

 

Aelita, on the other hand, was engaged in a dogfight with another Hornet. A laser shot past her, narrowly missing her by mere centimeters. “Ugh! I don’t have time for this!” She growled, summoning another energy field and launching it with a massive amount of force and hitting it square on. She watched as it exploded into bits of code. Not waiting for Beth, she flew as fast as she could leaving Beth struggling to keep up with her.

 

"Aelita please, slow down! I can't keep up!" Beth shouted as she tried desperately to follow Aelita, "I can only move so fast!"

 

Aelita ignored Beth's pleas and continued flying.

 

Beth gave a small moan as she pushed herself to go faster. As she tried to focus on keeping up with Aelita, a hornet crept up behind her. "Ow!" She shouted as a tingling sensation erupted through her foot. She turned to see the hornet fly closer to her. It fired again at her feet, forcing Beth to swerve out of the way. Another shot was fired, and once again Beth moved out of the way being forced towards the edge of the sector. "Aelita!" She shouted.

 

Aelita paused mid-flight and turned to look at Beth. Her heart stopped as Beth was pushed closer to the digital sea. "BETH!" She screamed.

 

Beth teetered on the edge of the sector as the Hornet continued firing at her. She desperately tried to block the lasers with her knife to the best of her ability. When Aelita called out her name, Beth turned to look at her, giving the hornet the opportunity to hit her in the chest, knocking her backward...

 

...And right off the sector.

 

“BETH!” Aelita shrieked as she dove for Beth. A knot twisted in her stomach when she couldn’t see the redhead. “No…” She whispered as she flew closer to the digital sea. “NO! Please no!” She sobbed not seeing Beth anywhere, “Not again! Please not again!”

 

A faint whimper came from behind her. “Aelita?”

 

In surprise, Aelita looked up to see Beth clinging to what was apparently a rope made of several neon colored strings twisted together and attached to the underside of the sector. Aelita let out a sigh she didn’t know she had been holding.

 

“C-can you get me to s-solid ground please!” Beth whimpered, clutching the rope tighter. Smiling, Aelita extended her arms as Beth let go of the rope. Beth shrieked as she fell into Aelita’s arms. Instinctively, she threw her arms and clung to Aelita’s neck out of fear. She clutched her eyes shut as Aelita flew up and landed back on the ground. Beth cautiously placed her foot in a test to see if the ground was solid. With a sigh of relief, she leap out of her friend's arms.

 

“Alright let’s go. Ashley still needs our help-” Aelita started, but was cut off.

 

_ “Did someone say my name?” _ Ashley’s slurred voice asked.

 

“Ash!” Beth called out in joy.

 

“Ashley! Are you okay?” Aelita asked in a panic, looking to the ‘sky’.

* * *

Back in the real world, another earthquake rocked the building as Ashley slowly came too. She rubbed her head where she had smacked in the screen, now slightly swollen and badly bruised. “I think? I have a really bad headache though…” She groaned.

 

Aelita sighed on the other end, _ “Good to hear. Me and Beth are nearing the tower, are you ready to launch a Return to the Past?” _

 

Groggily, she flipped through the notebook looking for the command. “Yeah, I think so,” She replied trying to focus on the words scribbled on the page.

 

_ “Alright, Get ready for when I give you the signal-” _

 

“The signal?” Ashley slurred.

 

_ “Yes, the signal. I need you to pay attention for it alright?” _ Aelita commanded.

 

“Uh, yeah…” Ashley responded, trying to make sense of the scribbles on the page.

* * *

Aelita sighed with relief, “She’s has a concussion from how she was sounding, but she’s alive at least.” 

 

“She has a concussion?!” Beth exclaimed. 

 

“Thankfully it doesn’t sound too serious, and any damage done will be reversed when we launch-”

 

“The Return to Past program? It can do that?” Beth asked, summoning her daggers.

 

“Yes, it’s able to reverse any damage done by Xana and his attacks-” Aelita said, taking to the air, “However, it can’t bring people back from the dead. That’s why we have to be extremely careful when Xana attacks.”

 

“Alright, let’s not wait any longer. Ashley needs our help!” Beth shouted tearing off into the direction of the tower. Aelita nodded, determination fueling her, as she flew after Beth.

 

On an overhanging cliff, Xana stood there watching the duo.

 

“Fascinating…” He mused to himself. He continued to watch as the two girls approached the tower.

* * *

Ashley gripped the armrests of her seat to brace herself as the violent shaking almost threw her into the screen again.

 

“Are you guys there yet?” she meekly asked into the headset.

 

_ “We just arrived at the tower. Ashley are you ready to input the code?” _ Aelita asked.

 

“Yeah typing it now,” Ashley responded as her fingers dashed across the keyboard, “Ready when you are.”

“Alright. Get ready for the signal,” Aelita said entering the tower.

 

_ “See you two earlier,” _ Ashley joked.

 

“See you earlier sis,” Beth softly said with a smile.

* * *

Aelita entered the tower and speed-walked the center of the platform. She allowed herself to float up to the second platform. Quickly she summoned the tower’s interface and placed her hand on it.

 

**Aelita**

 

“Ashley I’m about to input the code. Are you ready on your end?”

 

_ “Ready as I’ll ever be,” _ Ashley responded.

 

Without missing a beat, Aelita imputed the code.

 

**Code: Lyoko**

 

“Tower deactivated,” Aelita said with a smile, “Your turn Ashley.”

* * *

_ “Your turn Ashley.” _

 

Ashley nodded and brought pressed the enter key.

 

“Return to the past now!” She said with confidence. Watched as a bright white, bubble-like ball of energy came from the supercomputer and swallowed everything in its path.

* * *

Beth dumped a small stack of books in front of her sister. Using the eraser end of a pencil, Ashley lightly poked the stack.

 

“Well?” Ashley whispered looking up at her sister.

 

“This is all they have on programming for beginners” Beth sighed, taking a seat next to her sister. Ashley frowned counting each book.

 

“Only four? You’d think there’d be a lot more-” Ashley blinked trying to get her bearings, “-here… Wait are we back at the library?”

 

Beth shook her head fiercely. “How did we get back here?” She asked, placing a hand on her head. Ashley shrugged as a sharp beep pierced through their conversation. Ashley took the laptop out of the bag and opened it.

 

“It’s Aelita. Come on, we better check out and see what she wants,” Ashley said closing the laptop and grabbing the stack of books. Both girls hurried out of the building and into a nearby alleyway and crouched out of sight.

 

“Well, what's the word hummingbird? How’d I do?” Ashley asked, her eyes lighting up as Aelita appeared on the screen.

 

The pink haired elf-girl chuckled, _ “You both did fine for first timers.” _ Both twins beamed from Aelita’s praise, _ “-However, from now on I want both of you to stay as far away from the edge of the sector as possible. Understand?” _ Both girls nodded in agreement.

 

“Uh, question… Is  _ every  _ attack going to be this…  _ intense _ ?” Beth asked, “Not that I’m rethinking it, I just want to know for future reference.”

 

_ “No, Xana very rarely ever goes  _ this  _ intense. He seems to prefer the polymorph and possession-” _

 

“Wait... Xana can possess people?” Ashley asked, interrupting her friend.

 

Aelita sighed. _ “There is definitely a  _ lot _ to fill you two on…” _ She chuckled.

 

“Hey, Aelita? Question. When I tripped, you said something like ‘not again’? What did you mean by that-”

 

_ “Okay! I better go! I don’t want you two to be caught outside of Kadic and get in trouble! I’ll see both of you later,” _ Aelita said signing off. Both twins stared at the empty screen for a few seconds before Beth spoke.

 

“Did we ever tell her we go to Kadic Academy?”


End file.
